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Thanks all for the recommendations so far. I have heard good things about Cookeville. I know my health care experience would translate well to Nashville and I was recently entertaining a job in Brentwood (but it didn't work out). Brentwood looked like a really nice place and it appeared to have fantastic schools, but I think Nashville might be too large of a metro area and I would prefer to be a little closer to the mountains.
Ideally, we would like to buy some land and build a house. I live on an acre right now in Tampa (which is pretty unique for our area) and would like to have at least 3 acres when I move. I love my privacy, peace & quiet and I also like growing fruit like figs and berries. So I would love to be kind of on the outskirts of town but close enough to at least some infrastructure (a Costco would be really nice).
I have also spent my whole life fishing in Florida and also enjoy diving/spearfishing, so I recognize that will be a big change and will miss that part of Florida. But I would happily trade tolerable weather and a change of seasons for the beach/saltwater fishing. And heck, if Bill Dance can make a living on bass fishing in TN, I can get down with some freshwater fishing. I used to do a lot of bass fishing when I lived in Orlando.
Obviously fishing around here will be nothing like spearfishing out in the Gulf. But the Cookeville area is actually pretty famous for its fishing. Major League Fishing has tournaments on area lakes and did a nice promotional video of Cookeville:
And this guy, Chad Hoover, is a professional fisherman from Louisiana who retired to Cookeville because of all the fishing, particularly kayak fishing on area rivers. He said in this video: "Let me tell you something. These rivers are unpredictable, they're wild, they're beautiful, they're amazing, and there's a bunch of them in the Cookeville, Tennessee area. So if you want to plan a river adventure, and if you want to come to a place where there's beautiful parks, put Cookeville, Tennessee on your map for your destination recreation. Come here to play, come here to stay, or do like I did and come here to retire, to live. You definitely gotta check out Cookeville, Tennessee."
Kayak fishing is actually becoming quite popular. Last year the inaugural Pan-American Kayak Bass Championship was held in Cookeville where fishermen from 40 countries descended on Center Hill Lake and area rivers for some world class fishing. One of the fishermen said when he arrived in Cookeville that it was like "stepping inside a Norman Rockwell painting."
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its - possession
it's - contraction of it is
your - possession
you're - contraction of you are
their - possession
they're - contraction of they are
there - referring to a place
loose - opposite of tight
lose - opposite of win
who's - contraction of who is
whose - possession
alot - NOT A WORD
On the career thing...all the feedback so far is correct that Nashville would be the place to be. But honestly, I have made some decent money over the past few years and would be able to take a pretty big step "backward" career-wise and still live comfortably - as long as my wife could contribute as well. When I hit 40 last year, it is almost like a switch went off where I really developed a drive to have more time with my family and better quality of life, rather than banging out the $ in the corporate world and dealing with the Florida rat race.
I haven't done much research yet on job availability, but I would hope that in Chat or Knoxville and possibly some of the smaller towns mentioned (like Cookeville) that I could at least find some manager level jobs in finance where companies would be looking for someone to run their budgeting and FP&A processes.
My plan is to do what I am doing now - start out by getting some advice (which has been great so far) on towns that are nice, close to the mountains and with good schools, and then hone in with further research on those areas, including looking at what sort of job opportunities are available. Then, I would plan to visit a few areas to really narrow things down.
Does anyone know any local finance/accounting job recruiters?
Great stuff. At least I don't stand a chance of getting eaten by a bull shark up there.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JMT
Obviously fishing around here will be nothing like spearfishing out in the Gulf. But the Cookeville area is actually pretty famous for its fishing. Major League Fishing has tournaments on area lakes and did a nice promotional video of Cookeville:
And this guy, Chad Hoover, is a professional fisherman from Louisiana who retired to Cookeville because of all the fishing, particularly kayak fishing on area rivers. He said in this video: "Let me tell you something. These rivers are unpredictable, they're wild, they're beautiful, they're amazing, and there's a bunch of them in the Cookeville, Tennessee area. So if you want to plan a river adventure, and if you want to come to a place where there's beautiful parks, put Cookeville, Tennessee on your map for your destination recreation. Come here to play, come here to stay, or do like I did and come here to retire, to live. You definitely gotta check out Cookeville, Tennessee."
Kayak fishing is actually becoming quite popular. Last year the inaugural Pan-American Kayak Bass Championship was held in Cookeville where fishermen from 40 countries descended on Center Hill Lake and area rivers for some world class fishing. One of the fishermen said when he arrived in Cookeville that it was like "stepping inside a Norman Rockwell painting."
One thing that drives me crazy about the Tampa Bay area but also most of Florida in general is that we have no concept of urban planning. We generally let developers do whatever they want - to hell with road infrastructure or school capacity. Florida is also a sad proliferation of strip malls and apartment complexes. Here, we will let developers tear down native land to build a new strip mall when there are a few other rundown, half-vacant strip malls within a 5 mile radius. And all this is happening in the face of a general decline in retail shopping.
So I hope there are locations out there that are more actively managing sprawl and development, with preference for the quality of of life of the residents. When I was looking at a job a little while ago in Brentwood, that city seemed to be pretty conscious about prudent development. Are there cities in TN would have an edge in this area?
One thing that drives me crazy about the Tampa Bay area but also most of Florida in general is that we have no concept of urban planning. We generally let developers do whatever they want - to hell with road infrastructure or school capacity. Florida is also a sad proliferation of strip malls and apartment complexes. Here, we will let developers tear down native land to build a new strip mall when there are a few other rundown, half-vacant strip malls within a 5 mile radius. And all this is happening in the face of a general decline in retail shopping.
So I hope there are locations out there that are more actively managing sprawl and development, with preference for the quality of of life of the residents. When I was looking at a job a little while ago in Brentwood, that city seemed to be pretty conscious about prudent development. Are there cities in TN would have an edge in this area?
I really am impressed with the city planning department in Cookeville. All new developments must have curbed streets, sidewalks, and underground utilities. They've done a good job at keeping streets and roads in decent shape, and they're a step ahead in making sure the schools don't become overcrowded (there are no portable classrooms, for example). They're encouraging denser developments in the city core and, what I like in particular, redevelopment of lower-end eyesores into higher quality developments. They've created several historic zones in partnership with homeowners to make sure the historic integrity of those historic neighborhoods stays intact, and they've also created special zones downtown to encourage multi-purpose developments such as ground level retail with housing above.
I'm in a similar boat, in N FL/Jacksonville area. Born & raised in FL, and sick of the stifling heat, the congestion, the hurricanes. I'm just starting to do some research to see if the place I want to live actually exists: somewhere in/near the Smokies where I can buy a home with beautiful views, with some land/privacy, where we can live out the rest of our days in peace in a great community and without breaking into a sweat just by virtue of waking up and rolling out of bed.
It's just my husband and I, but we'd like an inviting home where family and friends can come stay with us. We both still work in FT remote jobs, so we can work anywhere but reliable high-speed internet is a must. Thinking long-term as we age (we're about 15 years from retirement), reasonable access to health care is important. We're both generally conservative, but we also have diverse and LGBT family members and friends so inclusion & diversity are important as well. Decent availability of restaurants and shopping is icing on the cake.
Are we looking for a unicorn?
I'm not in that dissimilar of a position myself.
I'm looking to leave NY state because I'm so sick of the politics and taxes. (I promise I will advocate strongly against the stereotypical "this is how we used to do things where I am from" attitude).
I finally got to visit east TN and the smokies last year and loved it. I really want to move my family to east TN or western NC (although the Greenville area of SC bus a dark horse contender) but I love the area.
I'm absolutely loving working remotely. I haven't set foot in my office in 4 months I've gone 100% remote. I'm going to try my darndest to translate this into being allowed to relocate and keep my position and salary, this is crucial into allowing me to move where I choose to live. Hell I would even be willing to take a slight pay cut as part of negotiating permission to work remotely permanently.
But the little of my opinion is that I think the LGBT thing isn't nearly as big of an issue as you think it will be. People seem to just want to be left alone and to live and let live. Im sure there are some haters out there but that can be anywhere.
I'll be following this thread there seems to be a lot of good information so far.
I'm looking to leave NY state because I'm so sick of the politics and taxes. (I promise I will advocate strongly against the stereotypical "this is how we used to do things where I am from" attitude).
I finally got to visit east TN and the smokies last year and loved it. I really want to move my family to east TN or western NC (although the Greenville area of SC bus a dark horse contender) but I love the area.
I'm absolutely loving working remotely. I haven't set foot in my office in 4 months I've gone 100% remote. I'm going to try my darndest to translate this into being allowed to relocate and keep my position and salary, this is crucial into allowing me to move where I choose to live. Hell I would even be willing to take a slight pay cut as part of negotiating permission to work remotely permanently.
But the little of my opinion is that I think the LGBT thing isn't nearly as big of an issue as you think it will be. People seem to just want to be left alone and to live and let live. Im sure there are some haters out there but that can be anywhere.
I'll be following this thread there seems to be a lot of good information so far.
If you visited the whole Sevierville - Pigeon Forge - Gatlinburg area, that isn't an accurate depiction of east Tennessee - it's tourist trap like any other.
While there are considerable tax benefits, getting professional employment in east TN was tough before COVID. Now, it's basically impossible.
I would wait until after COVID before making any serious considerations at all.
If you visited the whole Sevierville - Pigeon Forge - Gatlinburg area, that isn't an accurate depiction of east Tennessee - it's tourist trap like any other.
While there are considerable tax benefits, getting professional employment in east TN was tough before COVID. Now, it's basically impossible.
I would wait until after COVID before making any serious considerations at all.
Agreed! My daughter and SIL moved from Knoxville to Seattle, WA a little over a year ago for her job. It was easy because the SIL had a job that was all work from home and travel. His company didn't care where he lived. Fast forward a year and he lost his job in late February, just a couple of weeks before COVID shut everything down. He has since found a great new job in Seattle, but we mentioned several times to each other what a tough spot they would have been in if they had still been in Knoxville and he needed to find something locally. There just are not enough professional positions here.
If you vacation in the Blue Ridge area, take a look at Cleveland TN. It is between Chattanooga and Knoxville right along I-75. It is close to the mountains & water plus as far as we know both the city and county schools are good.
I would stay away from Cleveland for the time being. It has jumped substantially with Covid cases and deaths. My daughter and SIL live in Cleveland.
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